Bob Dylan's latest, Together Through Life, arrives today, but while critics are hailing this fresh batch of hardened, urgent songs, much of the advance chatter surrounding the album centers on the involvement of Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter.

"Hunter is an old buddy," Dylan explains in our next cover story, which hits newsstands this week. Dylan and Hunter collaborated on 10 songs, all but one of the album's tracks. "We could probably write a hundred songs together if we thought it was important or the right reasons were there,â€ Dylan tells Rolling Stone. "He's got a way with words and I do too. We both write a different type of song than what passes today for songwriting."